GAR 100

How to tell them apart? That’s where the 100 can help. Ten years ago, Global Arbitration Review decided to publish a list of about 100 firms “approved” for IA. To earn that stamp of approval, a firm would have to open its books to our researchers so we could satisfy ourselves the firm was working regularly on “serious” international arbitration matters - before credible arbitrators. The result was – and is - the 100.

The GAR 100 helps solve a conundrum. Many users of international arbitration have come to think of it as its own skill set – separate from litigation. Law firms have learned this, and created “international arbitration groups”. Sometimes the label is reasonable: skin over muscle and bone. Other groups though are more like Potemkin villages. They look right, but lack substance. They’re intended to lure work in.

The GAR 100 is a guide to the international arbitration capabilities of law firms. The 100 ought to assist clients in finding the specialist counsel they seek, and specialist counsel in demonstrating their expertise.